CLK550/E550 hunt for Adam

[kevm14]

Probably should have made this thread a while back.

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sal ... pe=listing

https://www.carfax.com/VehicleHistory/a ... umUyszVrHM

https://www.vindecoderz.com/EN/check-lo ... HX9F267757

[kevm14]

CLK550 came in the 07-09 model years and uses the naturally aspirated, port injected 5.5L M273, identical to what's in my S550. This CLK was the tail end of the C209 generation which began in 2003 as the CLK320/500 and AMG variant. The CLK55 AMG ended after 2006 because the 550 is just as fast if not slightly faster. Anyway, the C209 was based on the C-class, but marketed as an E-class coupe.

I guess the C209 was based on the W203 C-class, which was introduced in the ~2000 model year. Similarly, the 2010 C207 is based on the W204 C-class, which was introduced in the 2008 model year. This formula might have something to do with the CLK's good track record of reliability.

The CLK550 is a pretty quick car, good for something like a 13.2 @ 109 in the 1/4. That is no slouch. The timing gear hardness issue afflicted early M273s and you can identify that using the engine serial number break point. My 07 S550 actually is in the "not affected" category, but plenty of 07s are affected, and plenty of 07 CLK550s are, as well.

The CLK has the benefit of not having some Mercedes complexities:
- No Airmatic
- No 4Matic
- No adaptive shock damping
- No e-Shifter

They are still available with nice features that Adam may not care about, such as Keyless Go, the upgraded H/K audio (code 810), heated/cooled seats, nav, sport suspension, AMG package, multi-contour seats, and maybe a few other items. I think these are in that 3700-3800 lb weight class. They are kind of a dead ringer for a gen 5 Camaro SS auto but without the Camaro tax and without the stupid cylinder deactivation. And without the claustrophobia.

Now it turns out they "continued" the CLK550 after the end of the C209. In 2010, they introduced the "E-class coupe" on the C207 platform. What is this? It's the same thing. It's a C-class based coupe, marketed even more directly as an E-class coupe this time. It is a bit heavier and the 2010-2011 has the identical running gear as the 07-09 CLK550. Most of the complexity comments above apply, except it seems like they did add adaptive shock damping this time around. The extra weight means these lose a tenth or two and a mph or two in trap. Not the end of the world, but considering they are also more expensive (by virtue of being a little newer), maybe not ideal.

Generally the issue with these coupes is they made a TON of convertibles so you have to sort through those. I hoped the coupes would also be a bit more unloved due to outdated form factor, but it seems like as rare as they are, enough people know what they are to keep prices in the $7-10k range for a CLK550. Some higher, too.

There is also the E550 sedan, both in W211 and W212 form. My take is you get more car for less money, and they are actually AVAILABLE. But with more car comes more complexity. They are also a bit heavier and thus a bit lower performing. The 4Matic option I think is interesting, but Adam may not care. Adam also seems to prefer coupes.

[Adam]

How convenient.

This car would replace the E46. I've done a terrible job of posting about all the repairs I've done, as that car has been constantly broken since I got it. During the brief periods that it does work, it runs low 15s, but does actually drive fairly well, so there's that.

Replacing a German car with another German car because I'm tired of fixing it? Sounds like a terrible plan for me, but a great source of amusement for everyone else.

The coupes look better than the sedans, and I like the idea of the "pillar-less hard top coupe" body style. I'm not terribly concerned about the feature list, as most of the things I would care about would be covered under "replace with upgraded part" as reasonably priced cars of this age would have 80k+ miles.

4-Matic sounds good on paper, but I've nearly always had some kind of RWD vehicle in the winter and never felt is was a limitation, especially after moving to the "tropics".

[kevm14]

My only comment is don't view procuring an AWD vehicle as some sort of personal failure due to being "just like all those yuppies that insist on it" or something.

Let me try some pros/cons, with a note that this really only applies to E550s in the context of this thread:
4Matic pros
- Extra traction in all conditions and the more slippery the surface, the greater the advantage. When the car has enough thrust to run a low to mid 13, this isn't just a feature for driving in 5" of snow.
- Negligible performance penalty. 4Matic on car 722.9 applications adds maybe 150 lbs and from what I gather, the performance difference is not noticeable. On this same bullet, I'll capture that I don't think there is really a measurable fuel economy penalty.
- You won't have to look too hard to find an E550 4Matic, at least in the northeast

4Matic cons
- There is more stuff under there. Front driveshaft, front diff, front axles. 4Matic is known to make engine mounts harder to change, for example. But mostly I think we're talking about having to pull one or both front axles, not the diff.
- Reliability. There ARE some known issues that you'd be exposed to such as: diff seal leaks, axle boot failure, transfer case gear bearing or U-joint failure. The transfer case is pretty integrated into the rear of the transmission case (though you CAN take it apart). Rather than a chain, it uses a planetary gear based coupling and that part is fine, maybe even an advantage. The problem is the output pinion thing for the front driveshaft can have bearing issues which, if ignored, will probably ruin the transmission. Also, there is a U-joint but the U-joint is not externally serviceable, and is integrated into the output pinion. It's quite a job to do on car and it's not clear if it's even possible in ALL applications. This seems to be the Achilles heel of the 722.9 4Matic with integrated transfer case. You can check for play by grabbing the front driveshaft at the transmission side and wiggling it. You can also just listen for terrible NVH.

If you didn't care about AWD in the first place, exposure to the last bullet seems like a deal breaker right away. But, if you stumbled upon a well-priced, good condition E550 with 4Matic, it's something to know about.

My S550 seems fine though I haven't done the driveshaft test.

My E63 MIGHT have the beginning of this issue but I feel like I want to replace the wheels and tires before I get excited about a potential driveline NVH issue.

[kevm14]

Pursuing this one in FL:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/226065668434?_ ... p_homepage

https://www.privilegeautobrokers.com/in ... -550-Coupe

[Adam]

I won the auction. Stay tuned for updates.

[kevm14]

https://www.vindecoderz.com/EN/check-lo ... HX9F267290

The car is somewhat oddly optioned, though this is more common in German cars even though they do have option packages. They also allow all kinds of a la carte stuff which can make for some interesting snowflakes.

The color combo itself seems a bit rare to me which is cool.

As for things in the list that it has, of note:
- Wood wheel. I am not sure this is common unless I have overlooked it.
- Heated AND cooled seats. I see just heated a lot (it was standard in 09 at least).
- 486 sports suspension I think became standard in 08?
- AMG styling and wheels. Many of these have it but not all
- Audio 20 head unit with H/K audio - somewhat odd - these usually have the full COMAND nav head unit
- Keyless Go. Many do not have this.

What it does not have from memory:
- Multi-contour seats
- Bi-xenon active curve headlights
- Nav/COMAND
- Distronic (I am not sure I have ever seen this on a US car)

I would have to look at a brochure to find the rest.

- Power trunk closing

Notes from brochure:
- The sport suspension says it is lower, and the springs/shocks are stiffer. Hopefully this is not on original shocks but probably?
- M273 develops 75% of peak torque @ 1000 rpm. Damn.
- CLK550 has standard shift paddles (350 was optional) - but wait! Not available with wood/leather wheel?? Boooo.
- CLK550 has 4 piston fixed front calipers like my S550
- 13.6" front rotors and 11.8" rear. Says the rear calipers are dual piston fixed. Wow.
- This probably has Premium 1 but not positive (Sirius, H/K, sunroof)
- Does NOT have Premium 2 which is too bad. Premium 2 would have included: Bi-xenon with active curve, heated windshield washer system, corning lamps, heated headlight washers
- I don't even see Distronic in here actually.
- Small individual options (which I don't know if this has or not): rear side impact air bags, metallic paint, BT phone system

Sadly, Monroney Labels says they don't have window sticker info but they do have the options and their costs, so you could manually check them based on best knowledge and make your own sticker. That sucks. $10 for that.

[kevm14]

Here is some recommended maintenance/inspections to put on the list:
- Replace oil centrifuge (bolted to passenger side exhaust cam at rear of head) - clean TB and generally inspect tube for oil - you don't want oil in the intake on these due to the swirl valve thingy inside
- Inspect all 4 cam position sensor plugs and all 4 cam adjuster plugs for oil wicking. Clean and reinstall or get extension harnesses (car may already have a set of 4 on one of these but I forget which one Mercedes offered).
- Inspect oil cooler area for leaks (attached to oil filter housing)
- Inspect the three rear cam covers on heads - I replaced mine preventatively because they can leak. They just snap on and off.
- Inspect coolant tank for leaks
- Air filters
- Transmission service - consider pan/filter upgrade kit
- Brake fluid service
- Consider coolant service
- probably not a bad idea to change out the power steering fluid in the reservoir a few times
- probably due for spark plugs
- Inspect all rubber components of suspension for cracking and excessive play
- Check wheel bearings for play
- Check shocks for leaks
- Check brakes
- Check tire wear pattern
- Inspect driveshaft couplers for cracks
- Check but probably change differential fluid
- Inspect axle boots
- Inspect serpentine belt (and if/when you replace, buy the Continental kit which comes with some pulleys)
- Test HVAC performance and function
- Test all 4 power windows and sunroof
- Test power mirrors
- Test power seats, heat, cooling
- Test audio system
- Test Keyless Go (both handles lock/unlock + start + trunk)
- Test windshield washer pump
- Inspect for rust
- Full drivability inspection (engine, trans, suspension, brakes)
- Oh yeah, full module scan!

[kevm14]

And a gift. I had to do this manually from VIN Decoderz which I don't really understand. Apparently it does have power trunk closer, for your convenience.

It's unclear if the base headlights are halogen or HID. I suspect they are HID like my E55 had. They weren't great - I read the bi-xenons were better. It likely takes a D2S which is an inferior bulb, but there are better ones out there that I never had a chance to try in my E55. My S550 uses the D1S like all of my Cadillacs and it has the best HID low beam I've experienced. My E63 is LED...

Check the options list to see what it doesn't have.


*****************BLUETOOTH SECTION****************************
Previous owner may have added the Bluetooth module. If not you can probably find on eBay and just plug in. This might work: https://www.ebay.com/itm/285774267958?i ... BMusaNuNZj

Even cheaper: https://www.ebay.com/itm/126391776615?e ... R7zGjbjWYw

Cheapest: https://www.ebay.com/itm/326062534810?i ... BMisS0uNZj

Some P/Ns to search include:
6-7-87-6131
6-7-87-5878
6-7-87-5839
6-7-88-0001

The aftermarket audio upgrade might come with a microphone though so you could just do everything through that, and the sound will probably be better. The steering wheel answer/hangup controls probably won't work though.

It is supposedly pre-wired for iPod so you may be able to use this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08HXWNZZV?re ... i_atc&th=1

I have this in my S550 but it is no longer available.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08J4 ... UTF8&psc=1

I can't tell if some cars need that cable and some don't, or if it is just cross-compatible. Either way I selected this because of the higher quality audio and bluetooth codec support.

Ok I found this in the Q&A:

Yes，it can work with 2010 Audi Q5 .

The CHOOCL 3000A model comes with an AMI interface cable.
If your car already has an AMI to 30-Pin cable, you can buy the CHOOCL 1000 model.

My S550 had the cable in the glovebox and the CHOOCL 1000 just plugged in. I guess if you have a plug with no cable then you can use the 3000.

This might be the same thing: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RMK926C/re ... F9kZXRhaWw
*****************BLUETOOTH SECTION****************************


It appears that the AMG package and sport suspension was standard in 2009. In fact, it says so right in the brochure (on the 550). I guess I didn't notice before.

[Adam]

So much to do! Also, unload the E46. Anyone want a gently used BMW?